["In the beginning one must have a
preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the
stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually
elevated. In the next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated
spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee
begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional
service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free
from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization,
and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of
Godhead, Sri Krsna. This taste leads one further forward to
attachment for Krsna consciousness, which is matured in bhava, or the
preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is
called prema, the highest perfectional stage of life. In the prema
stage there is constant engagement in the transcendental loving
service of the Lord. So, by the slow process of devotional service,
under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master, one can attain
the highest stage, being freed from all material attachment, from the
fearfulness of one's individual spiritual personality, and from the
frustrations that result in voidist philosophy. Then one can
ultimately attain to the abode of the Supreme Lord."
(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.4.15-16)]

What is sraddha,
how does it begin, and what are its fruits? Sraddha, which means the
tendency to serve Krsna, is the actual root or seed of all bhakti. We
discussed that sraddha is of two kinds: worldly sraddha* [see endnote
1] and transcendental sraddha. Transcendental sraddha is also of two
kinds  regulative and spontaneous* [see endnote 2]. Spontaneous
sraddha is transcendental, and it comes by hearing the sweet pastimes
of Krsna. By this hearing greed will come, and that is called
lobhamayi-sraddha. This is the best kind; but what causes it to
manifest in the heart of a devotee? It appears only by the mercy of
Krsna, the Vaisnavas and Gurudeva. Moreover, Krsna's mercy comes
through the mercy of the pure Vaisnavas.

What is
Vaisnava-sanga or sadhu-sanga? You should know what is real
association with a sadhu or saintly devotee. Sanga in short means
association. San-ga  it is a Sanskrit word and it denotes samyak
rupena gamanam; meaning to follow and serve one's Guru in all
respects. This is also stated in the Bhagavad-Gita (4.34):

["Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master.
Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The
self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have
seen the truth."]

You will have to seek out a high
class of association  qualified Vaisnava devotees  and offer
obeisances to them, thinking, "I must obey, serve and please them in
all respects." Tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya. Three
things are mentioned here by Krsna. First, pranipatena  surrender
yourself, thinking, "I must obey." Secondly, pariprasnena  you will
have to very humbly ask questions, and the Vaisnavas saints will
explain and reconcile everything for you. Thirdly, sevaya  you will
have to serve with a mood to please them. Without these three, you
cannot have bhakti. This is stated throughout the scriptures, and
there are so many examples.

["The verdict of all revealed
scriptures is that by even a moment's association with a pure
devotee, one can attain all success." (Caitanya-Caritamrta,
Madhya-lila 22.54)]

Without sadhu-sanga you cannot
advance in Krsna consciousness. If you are trying to perform bhakti
by yourself, by your intelligence, the result will be karma (material
fruitive activity)  not bhakti.

There are many kinds
of bhakti, such as svarupa-siddha bhakti, sanga-siddha bhakti and
aropa-siddha bhakti.* [see endnote 3] Among them, only svarupa-siddha
bhakti is pure. Sanga-siddha bhakti and aropa-siddha bhakti cannot
give pure bhakti in thousands and millions of births. They are called
worldly bhakti, or bhakti mixed with karma and jnana. We should avoid
them and try to properly understand svarupa-siddha bhakti.

We have explained nine kinds of bhakti, then five, then three,
then one  harinama-sankirtana. Is visrambhena guroh seva (intimate
service to guru), or guru-seva, in the list of these nine, five,
three or one? It is in the list of 64, but where is this mentioned in
the nine prominent kinds of bhakti? We will have to think about this
point, because without accepting a Guru and performing visrambha
guru-seva, you cannot know what is bhakti and who is Krsna. First
you must know that to serve Guru is pure bhakti, or svarupa-siddha
bhakti. We should consider this.

You should also know
the meaning of sanga-siddha bhakti. For example, there are so many
devotees and pure devotees here in this hall, and it may be that many
here have no bhakti at all. They have come to begin their bhakti.
They want it, but they do not yet understand and practice bhakti.
Outsiders will see us all, and later they will tell others, "A group
of devotees came here." These outsiders cannot differentiate between
devotees and non-devotees, so even if a person is against bhakti,
because he is sitting amongst the devotees, he will also be called a
devotee. If he will sit anywhere else, however, outside the company
of devotees, he will not be considered a devotee. This is called
sanga-siddha.

If you are doing anything, you must do
it to please Krsna. For example, if you are sweeping the temple,
that activity is not mentioned in the nine or five or three limbs of
bhakti. This is pure bhakti, svarupa-siddha bhakti  though it has
not been written.

["A devotee may act as an ordinary human being or as a strict
follower of Vedic injunctions. In either case, everything he does is
favorable for the advancement of devotional service because he is in
Krsna consciousness." (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.200)]

[Madhava Maharaja:] Srila Rupa Gosvamipada has explained this verse
in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. Laukiki means "what you are doing in
this material world to maintain your life and social relationships.
This is laukiki karma or worldly work. Vaidhiki means "that which is
discussed in the Vedas". We have heard from Srila Gurudeva that Lord
Ramacandra was in exile for 14 years, and during that time he went to
Agastya Rsi's asrama. While he was there, he saw an airplane
descending from a heavenly planet. A person got out from the
airplane, went to a bank of a pond, and saw a dead body there. He
then cut some flesh of the dead body and ate it. Seeing this, Lord
Ramacandra asked Agastya Rsi, "What is that?" Agastya Rsi told him
that if someone does not respect or serve his parents, then even if
he goes to a heavenly planet in his next birth, he cannot drink the
nectar there. Rather, he will have to come down to this planet and
eat the flesh from his own dead body. Hearing this Ramacandra
thought, "It is mentioned in the Vedas that if one does not serve and
respect his parents, he will have to eat his own flesh. I must
respect the Vedas." This is vaidhiki karma, activity performed with
reference to the Vedas, in relation to social life. We must obey the
injunctions of the Vedas.

"Ya kriya kriyate mune" 
mune means sage. If that karma or service is hari-sevanukulya 
favorable to hari-seva  then it is bhakti. If it is not favorable to
hari-seva, it is not bhakti.

There are two types of
hari: visaya and asraya. Who is visaya? Bhagavan, or Krsna.

["A Vaisnava is one who has developed all good transcendental
qualities. All the good qualities of Krsna gradually develop in His
devotee. (Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-lila 22.75)]

So
there are two types of Hari. If one's service is favorable for the
two types of Hari, then it will be bhakti; otherwise not.

[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] Once, Krsna and His friends entered
the house of a gopi and began to steal butter. Krsna was caught red
handed by that gopi and brought to Mother Yasoda. Mother Yasoda
became very angry and worried, thinking, "If Krsna is so naughty at
this young age, what will happen when He gets older? He may become a
dacoit or thief, so I must punish Him for His own welfare. She took
a stick, bound Him, and then began to chastise Him thus: "Shall I
beat you?" Krsna began to weep bitterly, "Mother, Mother, Mother!
Save me." What is this? Is making Krsna cry bhakti, or not? Is this
activity one of the sixty four limbs of bhakti? This is actually
bhakti; it is favorable for Krsna. It has been done for Krsna's
benefit, so that He will be happy for His entire life. Mother Yasoda
was thinking, "He should develop good character and not grow up to be
a thief." Therefore, an activity may appear externally not to be
bhakti, but if it is done for the pleasure of Krsna and performed
with a favorable mood, it is bhakti.

Playing His
human-like pastimes, Krsna once did something wrong to Radhika.
Lalita, Visakha, and all the gopis forcibly "arrested" Him for this,
took Him to the Queen of Vraja, and ordered Him, "You should ask
forgiveness and offer sastang pranama (full obeisances with all eight
limbs of the body." He was bound to do so, because there were many
gopis and He was alone. Radhika then placed Her lotus feet on the
head of Krsna and exclaimed "Oh, I excuse you." What is this? This is
not mentioned in the sixty four types of bhakti, yet it is the
highest class of bhakti because by this act Krsna became so happy.
We should understand these principles, and then bhakti may come to
us. Otherwise, we cannot understand simply by ordinary intelligence,
and bhakti will not manifest.

[Sripad Padmanabha
Maharaja:] You were asking in what category was this action of
Srimati Radharani  putting Her lotus feet on Krsna's lotus head. So
I'm wondering, can we not include that in the category of
atma-nivedanam (full self-surrender)? Atma-nivedanam is one of the
nine limbs of bhakti, so if a bhakta has given his full atma (soul)
to Krsna, then any action he does is pure bhakti. Can it not be
included, then, in the category of atma-nivedanam?

[Srila Narayana Maharaja:] There is no question of atma-nivedanam in
this instance. There is no question of Srimati Radhika surrendering
to Krsna. Krsna may surrender to Radhika; why should She surrender to
Krsna? [devotees cheer loudly]

Without sadhu-sanga,
bhakti cannot develop. Bhakti comes from sadhu-sanga, but what is
sadhu-sanga?

Srila Sanatana Gosvami has written in the
Brhad-bhagavatamrta about a boy named Gopa-kumara, who was born in a
brahmana family in Govardhana. He had engaged in a great deal of
devotional activities in his past lives. To help him, Srimati Radhika
sent Her associate in the form of a Guru, who thus descended to
introduce him to the teachings of bhakti, starting from the
beginning. That Guru gave him the Gopal-mantra, but before He could
explain the meaning of the mantra, He fainted in ecstasy and then
disappeared. Nevertheless, the boy began to chant the mantra with
great faith. By doing so, all his desires for worldly things were
quickly and amazingly dispelled. He went to Puri to perform bhakti,
and there he saw that his Guru was waiting for him on the bank of the
ocean. But again, as his Guru began was explaining something about
the mantra, He fainted and then disappeared, and He could not be
found anywhere. Thus, his Gurudeva was helping him to experience the
mood of separation. In the end, his Guru explained to him about
sakhya-rasa, vatsalya-rasa and madhurya-rasa, the mood of Krsna as
one's beloved. Gopa-kumara became self-realized and later shared his
realization with his disciple, Jnana Sarma. His disciple learned
everything and became expert in all tattvas (established philosophic
truths) by his mercy, but there was something lacking. He could not
weep for Krsna and he had no realization.

You can hear
these topics, but can you loudly weep for Krsna like Sri Caitanya
Mahaprabhu, Srila Rupa Gosvami and others? Only by the mercy of your
Gurudeva can you weep  and only if your Gurudeva is bona fide and
realized. The boy wanted to weep and become a servant of Krsna, but
he could not. Then the Guru, Gopa-kumara, who was now also sent by
Radhika, placed his hand on his young disciple's head and blessed him
to realize all the subject matters spoken by him  to realize
transcendental moods. The disciple at once began to weep loudly, and
to sing, and his heart melted. He suddenly disappeared from that
place, appeared in Goloka Vrndavana, and there he saw Krsna herding
the cows, singing, and playing on His flute. He ran to Krsna,
overjoyed. They both fainted, and after that Krsna embraced him. The
Guru must be expert and realized, and then he can give you the
blessing of full transcendental realization  simply by placing his
hand on your head. This is really sadhu-sanga.

Gaura
Premanande

[Endnote 1: "There are two kinds of sraddha:
one is worldly sraddha, worldly faith, and the second is
transcendental faith. Worldly sraddha is always shaky and very weak.
On the other hand, if one has transcendental sraddha, like Haridasa
Thakura, he will think, 'Even if you cut me into thousands of pieces,
I will not give up my chanting and my worship.'" (Srila Bhaktivedanta
Narayana Maharaja, July 6 2002, France)]

(Worldly faith
may also apply to faith in material relations, and in that case
transcendental faith will apply to faith in transcendental
personalities, like Guru, sadhu, and sastra.)

(The
following quotes were taken from Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu)

[Endnote 2: Paramarthika-sraddha (transcendental faith) is of
two kinds: 1) sastrartha avadharanamayi-sraddha - faith which brings
about engagement in the path of bhakti inspired by the governing
principles of scripture, and 2)
bhagavat-lila-madhurya-lobhamayi-sraddha - faith which brings about
engagement in bhakti due to intense longing, arisen out of some
extreme good fortune by hearing the sweet pastimes of Krsna."]

[Endnote 3: Three Types of Bhakti

One should also
remember that bhakti is of three types: svarupa siddha (those
endeavors which are purely constituted of uttama-bhakti),
sanga-siddha (those endeavors which are associated with or favorable
to the development of bhakti but not of themselves purely composed of
bhakti), and aropa-siddha (those activities which although not
consisting of pure bhakti, are designated as bhakti due to their
being offered to the Supreme Lord).

Aropa-siddha-bhakti: Endeavors indirectly attributed with the quality
of bhakti.

Endeavors which by nature are not purely constituted
of bhakti  that is, anukulya-krsnanusilana  and in which the
performer, in order to fulfill his own purpose, offers his activities
and their results to the Lord. This is called aropa-siddha-bhakti. In
other words, because his activities are assigned (aropa) to the
Supreme Lord, bhakti is attributed (aropita) to them.

Comment

That bhakti in which there is a mixture of karma or
desires for material enjoyment is called sakama-bhakti or
saguna-bhakti. Without the assistance of bhakti, karma cannot yield
any fruit. Knowing this, many persons offer their prescribed duties
for the satisfaction of the Lord, in order that He might fulfill
their extraneous desires. The activities of such persons are not
svarupa-siddha-bhakti. Nonetheless, because they offer the fruit of
their activity to the Lord, it is considered as a type of bhakti.
Although their activities are offered for the satisfaction of the
Lord, their motivation is that by pleasing Him, He may fulfill their
extraneous desires. In this case their activities are attributed with
the sense of bhakti. Therefore, such endeavors are known as
aropa-siddha-bhakti.

Sanga-siddha-bhakti: Endeavors
associated with or favorable to the cultivation of Bhakti.

There are other endeavors which, although not purely constituted of
bhakti, anukulya-krsnanusilana, acquire a likeness to bhakti due to
their being established as assistants to bhakti. Such endeavors are
known as sanga-siddha-bhakti. An example of this is found in
Srimad-Bhagavatam (11.3.23-25) in the statement of Sri Prabuddha
Muni to Maharaja Nimi:

"One should cultivate compassion
towards others, friendliness, offering respect to others,
cleanliness, austerity, tolerance, silence, study of the Vedas,
simplicity, celibacy, non-violence, and so on. One should consider
heat and cold, happiness and distress to be the same. One should
perceive the presence of the Lord everywhere. One should live in a
secluded place, renounce family attachments and remain satisfied with
gain which comes of its own accord."

Even though the
behavior or practices described in this verse are not by nature
purely constituted of bhakti, they are assistants to bhakti. Thus
they are considered to be like associates or of bhakti. If
bhagavad-bhakti is removed from the twenty-six qualities mentioned,
then Bhagavan has no direct relationship with the remaining qualities
such as compassion, friendliness, tolerance, austerity, and so on.
Only when these items exist as assistants to or associates of bhakti
is their likeness to bhakti affected. Therefore, they are known as
sanga-siddha-bhakti.

Svarupa-siddha-bhakti: Endeavors
purely constituted of uttama-bhakti

All favorable endeavors
(cesta) such as sravana, kirtana, smarana, and so on, as well as the
manifestation of the spiritual sentiments which occur beginning from
the stage of bhava, which are completely devoid of all desires
separate from Sri Krsna and which are freed from the coverings of
jnana and karma are known as svarupa-siddha-bhakti. In other words
all endeavors of the body, words and mind which are related to Sri
Krsna and which are performed exclusively and directly for His
pleasure without any interruption are known as
svarupa-siddha-bhakti.

Therefore in the conversation
between Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Raya Ramananda, found in Sri
Caitanya-caritamrta, both aropa-siddha and sanga-siddha-bhakti have
been described as external. (Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindhu
17-19)]

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